(Pope John XXIII)
Today we recall the Holy Spirit falling upon and filling the disciples of Jesus. This was the event for which He had told the apostles to wait in Jerusalem: the coming of ‘the Spirit of truth’ as foretold during our Lord’s final meal with them, and about which we read in chapter 16 of John’s gospel.
Every day brings us an opportunity to invite the Holy Spirit into our own lives, to open ourselves to His leading, His teaching, and the transforming effect of His dwelling within us, but today, with the focus of all Christians being on this momentous event, we could ask for no better backdrop to our own longing and commitment than the awareness and prayer of today’s disciples who already live with the breath of the Spirit blowing through their lives. It was the Holy Spirit that enabled the apostles to stand up, speak out, and draw others to an appreciation of who Jesus was; that day was the birth of the Christian church, and the church is perpetuated through the continuing presence and power of that same Spirit among us. That Christ’s church has not faded away before now is living proof of His presence: He is longed for, sought, invited and welcomed into the hearts of committed believers in Jesus Christ, and it is through such Spirit filled and Spirit led people that the Church continues today.
Let us make being filled with the Holy Spirit what today is all about, not just in church liturgies, Bible readings, sermon subjects, and in wondering what it must have been like in that room, on that day two thousand years ago. Listening, reading and wondering will not bring us to where we long to be. There is only one way to really know anything about having the Spirit of God in our lives, and that is for it to happen; prayer and a genuine desire will lead us there. We cannot begin to grasp the significance from outside the experience, and outside is not where we are meant to be.
‘When Pentecost day came round, they had all met together, when suddenly there came from heaven a sound as of a violent wind which filled the entire house in which they were sitting; and there appeared to them tongues as of fire; these separated and came to rest on the head of each of them. They were all filled with the Holy Spirit ...’ (Acts 2:1-4)
I have been waiting eagerly for today; waiting in anticipation, with a prayer and a longing for everyone hesitating near the edge of their fear, their freedom or their faith. If I could gather them with me in that far away forest cathedral with the Spirit swirling above, desiring, longing and waiting for their heartfelt response to His presence ... But that I cannot do. What I can do, and what I shall do after gathering with others for a Pentecost service, is rest awhile alone – in even the lightest breeze – beneath trees on a local hillside. My prayer will be the same; that many shall open their hearts to Him, become filled with Him, and be transformed by Him. And, dare I say that of the two my solitary focussed prayer will probably be the more important part of my day.
Organized traditional religion so often lacks the burning fire, the Teacher, the Comforter, the Spirit of Truth promised by our Lord and which is at the heart of what today is all about, with the result that far too many of us – who call ourselves Christians – lack the essential life-force of faith and of the Church. All that we read about in Acts after the coming of the Spirit on the gathered disciples, would not have happened without the transforming effect of His empowering and infilling. In that respect, nothing has changed; we can do little of real worth without Him, and without Him as our guide and our power source we shall never achieve our aim of becoming the persons God made us to be.
God wants every one of us filled to the brim, and it is the Holy Spirit that will fill us. ‘The Filled’ is a collective title which should include every one of us. Until now it may have been an appropriate label for only one or two of our fellow travellers, but let that be changed today. Through the power of the Holy Spirit may ‘fellow traveller’ and ‘filled’ become synonymous.
‘Come, Holy Spirit, fill the hearts of Your faithful and kindle in us the Fire of Your love.’
To whatever degree may be necessary to each one of us,
tear us apart in the winds of Your presence.
Breathe upon us, open us wide,
and then, in the stillness,
in our need and desire,
in our vulnerability,
in our emptiness,
burn within us.
Consume us.
And fill us.
Be in us.
Amen
